The United Nations has three additional, subsidiary, regional headquarters, or headquarters districts. These were opened in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1946, Vienna (Austria) in 1980, and Nairobi (Kenya) in 2011.[4] These adjunct offices help represent UN interests, facilitate diplomatic activities, and enjoy certain extraterritorial privileges, but only the main headquarters in New York contains the seats of the principal organs of the UN, including the General Assembly and Security Council. All fifteen of the United Nations' specialized agencies are located outside New York at these other headquarters or in other cities.

Although it is situated in New York City, the land occupied by the United Nations Headquarters and the spaces of buildings that it rents are under the sole administration of the United Nations and not the US government. They are technically extraterritorial through a treaty agreement with the U.S. government. However, in exchange for local police, fire protection and other services, the United Nations agrees to acknowledge most local, state, and federal laws.[5]

The United Nations Headquarters complex was constructed in stages with the core complex completed between 1948 and 1952. The Headquarters occupies a site beside the East River, on between 17 and 18 acres (7 and 7 ha)[note 1][6] of land purchased from the real estate developer, William Zeckendorf, Sr.Nelson Rockefeller arranged this purchase, after an initial offer to locate it on the Rockefeller family estate of Kykuit was rejected as being too isolated from Manhattan. The US$8.5 million (adjusted by inflation US$83.4 million) purchase was then funded by his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who donated it to the city. The Rockefeller family owned the Tudor City Apartments across First Avenue from the slaughter houses[7]Wallace Harrison, the personal architectural adviser for the Rockefeller family and brother-in-law to a Rockefeller daughter, served as the Director of Planning for the United Nations Headquarters. His firm, Harrison and Abramovitz, oversaw the execution of the design.[8]

Niemeyer met with Corbusier at the latter's request shortly after the former arrived in New York. Corbusier had already been lobbying hard to promote his own scheme 23, and thus, requested that Niemeyer not submit a design, lest he further confuse the contentious meetings of the Board of Design. Instead, he asked the younger architect to assist him with his project. Niemeyer began to absent himself from the meetings. Only after Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz repeatedly pressed him to participate did Niemeyer agree to submit his own project. Niemeyer's project 32 was finally chosen, but as opposed to Corbusier’s project 23, which consisted of one building containing both the Assembly Hall and the councils in the centre of the site (as it was hierarchically the most important building), Niemeyer's plan split the councils from the Assembly Hall, locating the first alongside the river, and the second on the right side of the secretariat. This would not split the site, but on the contrary, would create a large civic square.[10]

After much discussion, Harrison, who coordinated the meetings, determined that a design based on Niemeyer's project 32 and Le Corbusier's project 23 would be developed for the final project. Le Corbusier's project 23 consisted of a large block containing both the Assembly Hall and the Council Chambers near the centre of the site with the Secretariat tower emerging as a slab from the south. Niemeyer's plan was closer to that actually constructed, with a distinctive General Assembly building, a long low horizontal block housing the other meeting rooms, and a tall tower for the Secretariat. The complex as built, however, repositioned Niemeyer's General Assembly building to the north of this tripartite composition. This plan included a public plaza as well.

UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in front of the General Assembly building (1950s)

Wallace Harrison's assistant, architect George Dudley, later stated: "It literally took our breath away to see the simple plane of the site kept open from First Avenue to the River, only three structures on it, standing free, a fourth lying low behind them along the river’s edge...[Niemeyer] also said, ‘beauty will come from the buildings being in the right space!’. The comparison between Le Corbusier’s heavy block and Niemeyer’s startling, elegantly articulated composition seemed to me to be in everyone’s mind..."[11] Later on, Corbusier came once again to Niemeyer and asked him to reposition the Assembly Hall back to the centre of the site. Such modification would destroy Niemeyer’s plans for a large civic square. However, he finally decided to accept the modification: "I felt [Corbusier] would like to do his project, and he was the master. I do not regret my decision." Together, they submitted the scheme 23–32, which was built and is what can be seen today.[12] Along with suggestions from the other members of the Board of Design Consultants, this was developed into project 42G. This late project was built with some reductions and other modifications.[13]

Many cities vied for the honor of hosting the UN Headquarters site, prior to the selection of New York City. The selection of the East River site came after over a year of protracted study and consideration of many sites in the United States. A powerful faction among the delegates advocated returning to the former League of Nations complex in Geneva, Switzerland.[14] Suggestions came from far and wide including such fanciful suggestions as a ship on the high seas to housing the entire complex in a single tall building. Amateur architects submitted designs, local governments offered park areas, but the determined group of New York boosters that included such luminaries as Grover Whalen, Thomas J. Watson, and Nelson Rockefeller, coordinated efforts with the powerful Coordinator of Construction, Robert Moses, and Mayor William O'Dwyer, to assemble acceptable interim facilities. Their determined courtship of the UN Interim Site committee resulted in the early meetings taking place at multiple locations throughout the New York area. Sites in San Francisco (including the Presidio), Marin County, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Fairfield County, CT, Westchester County, NY, and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, were among those sites given serious consideration before Manhattan was finally selected. The Manhattan site was selected after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., offered to donate $8.5 million to purchase the land.

Per an agreement with the city, the buildings met some but not all local fire safety and building codes. Construction on the initial buildings began in 1948, with the cornerstone laid on October 24, 1949,[9] and was completed in 1952. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Building, designed by Harrison and Abramovitz, was added in 1961. The construction of the headquarters was financed by an interest-free loan of $65 million made by the United States government, and the cost of construction was also reported as $65 million.[20]

The currency in use at the United Nations headquarters' businesses is the U.S. dollar. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; most of the daily communication within secretariat and most of the signs in the UN headquarters building are in English and French. English, French, and Spanish are the working languages of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish are working and official languages of the General Assembly.[24]

The complex has a street address of United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY 10017, USA. For security reasons, all mail sent to this address is sterilized, so items that may be degraded can be sent by courier.[25] The United Nations Postal Administration issues stamps, which must be used on stamped mail sent from the building. Journalists, when reporting from the complex, often use "United Nations" rather than "New York" as the identification of their location in recognition of the extraterritoriality status.[26]

For award purposes, amateur radio operators consider it a separate "entity", and for communications the UN has its own internationally recognized ITU prefix, 4U.

The complex includes a number of major buildings. While the Secretariat building is most predominantly featured in depictions of the headquarters, it also includes the domed General Assembly building, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, as well as the Conference and Visitors Center, which is situated between the General Assembly and Secretariat buildings, and can be seen only from FDR Drive or the East River. Just inside the perimeter fence of the complex stands a line of flagpoles where the flags of all 193 UN member states, plus the UN flag, are flown in English alphabetical order.[27]

The General Assembly building, housing the United Nations General Assembly, holds the General Assembly Hall which has a seating capacity of 1,800. At 165 ft (50 m) long by 115 ft (35 m) wide, it is the largest room in the complex. The Hall has two murals by the French artist Fernand Léger. At the front of the chamber, is the rostrum containing the green marble[28] desk for the President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services and matching lectern for speakers.[9] Behind the rostrum is the UN emblem on a gold background.[29] Flanking the rostrum is a paneled semi-circular wall that tapers as it nears the ceiling and surrounds the front portion of the chamber. In front of the paneled walls are seating areas for guests and within the wall are windows which allow translators to watch the proceedings as they work. The ceiling of the hall is 75 ft (23 m) high and surmounted by a shallow dome ringed by recessed light fixtures. The General Assembly Hall was last altered in 1980 when capacity was increased to accommodate the increased membership. Each of the 192 delegations has six seats in the hall with three at a desk and three alternate seats behind them.[9]

The Conference Building faces the East River between the General Assembly Building and the Secretariat. The Conference Building holds the Security Council Chamber, which was a gift from Norway and was designed by the Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg. The oil canvas mural depicting a phoenix rising from its ashes by Norwegian artist Per Krogh hangs at the front of the room.[25]

The 39-story Secretariat Building was completed in 1952.[30] It houses offices for the Secretary General, the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel,[31] the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Office of Disarmament Affairs,[32] and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM).[33]

The library was founded with the United Nations in 1946. It was originally called the United Nations Library, later the United Nations International Library. In the late 1950s the Ford Foundation gave a grant to the United Nations for the construction of a new library building; Dag Hammarskjöld was also instrumental in securing the funding for the new building. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library was dedicated and renamed on November 16, 1961.[34] The building was a gift from the Ford Foundation and is located next to the Secretariat at the southwest corner of the headquarters campus. The library holds 400,000 books, 9,800 newspapers and periodical titles, 80,000 maps and the Woodrow Wilson Collection containing 8,600 volumes of League of Nations documents and 6,500 related books and pamphlets. The library's Economic and Social Affairs Collection is housed in the DC-2 building.[35]

The complex is also notable for its gardens and outdoor sculptures. Iconic sculptures include the "Knotted Gun", called Non-Violence, a statue of a Colt Python revolver with its barrel tied in a knot, which was a gift from the Luxembourg government [36] and "Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares", a gift from the Soviet Union.[37] The latter sculpture is the only appearance of the "swords into plowshares" quotation, from Isaiah 2:4, within the complex. Contrary to popular belief, the quotation is not carved on any UN building.[38] Rather, it is carved on the "Isaiah Wall" of Ralph Bunche Park across First Avenue. A piece of the Berlin Wall also stands in the UN garden.[39]

Two huge murals by Brazilian artist Cândido Portinari, entitled Guerra e Paz (War and Peace) are located at the delegates hall. The works are a gift from the United Nations Association of the United States of America and Portinari intended to execute them in the United States. However, he was denied a visa due to his communist convictions and decided to paint them in Rio de Janeiro. They were later assembled in the headquarters. After their completion in 1957, Portinari, who was already ill when he started the masterpiece, succumbed to lead poisoning from the pigments his doctors advised him to abandon.[46]

1 United Nations Plaza, also known as DC-1 and DC-2, behind the United States mission to the United Nations

General Assembly Building lobby

The row of flags in front of the Secretariat Building

While outside of the complex, the headquarters also includes two large office buildings that serve as offices for the agencies and programmes of the organization. These buildings, known as DC-1 and DC-2, are located at 1 and 2 UN Plaza respectively. DC1 was built in 1976. There is also an identification office at the corner of 46th Street, inside a former bank branch, where pre-accredited diplomats, reporters, and others receive their grounds passes. UNICEF House (3 UN Plaza) and the UNITAR Building (807 UN Plaza) are also part of headquarters. In addition, the Church Center for the United Nations (777 UN Plaza) is a private building owned by the United Methodist Church as an interfaith space housing the offices of several non-governmental organizations. The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is located at 380 Madison Avenue.[47]

The headquarter's buildings have come to need extensive renovation, including the need to install sprinklers, fix leaks, and remove asbestos. Expansion has also come to be needed.

On July 28, 2007, UN officials announced the complex would undergo a $1 billion renovation starting in the fall. Swedish firm Skanska AB won a bid to overhaul the buildings which will include the Conference, General Assembly and Secretariat buildings. The renovations, which will be the first since the complex opened in 1950, are expected to take about 7 years to complete. When completed the complex is also expected to be more energy efficient and have improved security.[48] Work began on May 5, 2008 but the project was delayed for a while.[49] By 2009, the cost of the work had risen from $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion with some estimates saying it would take up to $3 billion.[50] Officials hope the renovated buildings will achieve a LEED Silver rating. Despite some delays and rises in construction costs, renovation on the entire UN headquarters is progressing rapidly. As of 2012, the installation of the new glass facade of the Secretariat Building is completed. The new glass wall will retain the look of the original facade but it will be more energy efficient. The renovation of the Secretariat building has been complete and the UN staff moved into the new building in July 2012.[51][52]

Alternative sites were considered as temporary holding locations during renovations. In 2005, officials investigated establishing a new temporary site be created at the old Lake Success location. Brooklyn was also suggested as a temporary site.[53] Another alternative for a temporary headquarters or a new permanent facility was the World Trade Center site.[54] Once again, these plans met resistance both within the UN and from the United States and New York governments and were abandoned.[55]

In October 2011, city and state officials announced an agreement in which the UN would be allowed to build a long-sought new office tower adjacent to the existing campus on the current Robert Moses Playground, which would be relocated.[56] In exchange, the United Nations would allow the construction of an esplanade along the East River that would complete the East River Greenway, a waterfront pedestrian and bicycle pathway.[57] While host nation authorities have agreed to the provisions of the plan, it needs the approval of the United Nations in order to be implemented. The plan is similar in concept to an earlier proposal that had been announced in 2000 but did not move forward.[58]

Due to the significance of the organization, proposals and offers to relocate the Headquarters buildings have occasionally been discussed. Common complaints about its current location include diplomats who struggle to obtain U.S. visas and local residents complaining about inconveniences each time the roads are sealed due to visiting dignitaries. A telephone poll in 2001 found that 67% of callers were in favor of the UN moving out of the country.[59] Countries critical of the United States, such as Iran, are especially vocal in questioning the current location of the buildings in U.S. territory.[60]

In 2001, Dmitriy Rogozin proposed moving the headquarters to St. Petersburg due to America's failure to pay its dues to the United Nations, saying "If the position of the Americans does not change and if as a result the international civil servants working in New York feel ever more uncomfortable, I think we will raise the question of moving the central UN headquarters to the 'Venice of the North,' St. Petersburg".[61] During the period where the UN was facing delays in its efforts to refurbish its existing buildings, alternative sites considered as temporary sites also included the World Trade Center site being proposed as a new permanent facility.[54]

Some governments have offered potential sites should the UN decide to move. In 2007, La Presse reported that the Canadian government, along with provincial and municipal authorities, proposed Montreal as a new site for the headquarters; a former docklands site was earmarked and preliminary drawings made, but the UN turned down the request in 2007 and opted to renovate its existing facilities instead.[62] In 2010, the Dubai government offered Dubai as an ideal venue due to its proximity to international "trouble spots".[63]

Large scale protests, demonstrations, and other gatherings directly on First Avenue are rare. Some gatherings have taken place in Ralph Bunche Park, but it is too small to accommodate large demonstrations. The closest location where the New York City Police Department usually allows demonstrators is Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza at 47th Street and First Avenue,[66] one block away from the visitors' entrance, four blocks away from the entrance used by top-level diplomats, and five blocks away from the general staff entrance.

United Nations Security officers are generally responsible for security within the UN Headquarters. They are equipped with weapons and handcuffs and can be mistaken for NYPD officers, due to similarity in uniforms.[68] The NYPD can respond to any other incidents around or near the building and provide assistance during protests or riots.

Due to its role in international politics, the United Nations Headquarters is often featured in movies and other pop culture. The only film actually shot on location in the UN headquarters is The Interpreter (2005), filmed with the consent of the Secretary-General,[69] although some scenes in the political documentary film U. N. Me were surreptitiously filmed inside the building without permission. When he was unable to obtain permission to film in the UN Headquarters, director Alfred Hitchcock covertly filmed Cary Grant arriving for the 1959 feature North by Northwest. After the action within the building, another scene shows Grant leaving across the plaza looking down from the building's roof. This was created using a painting.[70] The final Roadblock of the 21st season of the American version of The Amazing Race also took place inside the gates of this building and had teams associating national flags with the different "hellos" and "goodbyes" they heard during the race. The building is seen in the 2008 game Grand Theft Auto IV, but called the Civilization Committee Building (CC). The building is also in the racing game The Crew in the New York area of the game.

^Phipps, Linda S. "'Constructing' the United Nations Headquarters: Modern Architecture as Public Diplomacy" PhD Thesis, Harvard University, 1998. Phipps' account affords a detailed overview of the site acquisition, the selection of architects, the design of the complex and its reception.

^Dudley, Geoge A., A Workshop for Peace: Designing the United Nations Headquarters, (Cambridge, MA and London, England: MIT Press and the Architectural History Foundation, 1994) p. 314. Dudley provides an accurate and detailed account of the Design meetings as well as discussing the evolution of the final design.